In a recent episode of La Ladra, three great, informal adverbs stand out in three consecutive lines.

Ma quelli non mollano l'osso manco morti!

But those guys never let go of the bone, not even dead.

Magari l'osso di Cicci sono io.

Maybe I am Cicci's bone.

Ma mica solamente l'osso.

But not only the bone, of course.

Captions 35-37, La Ladra - Ep. 2 - Viva le spose - Part 10

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We have already discussed magari (maybe, if ever) and mica (at all), and here is a new adverb. We’ve seen it, here and there, in videos, but now it’s time to do a bit of explaining.

Manco: Originally, it meant meno (less), and was used in expressions such as niente di meno (nothing less) in the variants niente di manco, niente manco, non di manco, non manco(nothing less) and is rarely used today. Its second, more recent meaning, and somewhat related to the first, is used quite a bit. It’s equivalent to neanche (not even) as an abbreviated form of nemmanco (not even).

Manco, meaning neanche, has generally been considered to be bad writing form* and continues, even today, to be used exclusively in informal speech, and in writing that reproduces speech. It’s used more in the south than in the north, and is equivalent to nemmeno, neanche, and neppure (not even).

It’s important to remember that manco is an abbreviation for a word with ne (not, nor) as a sort of prefix, and therefore like mica has a negative meaning, even though it doesn’t exhibit the typical characteristics of a negation.

In the previous episode of La Ladra, the first word is manco!

Manco di Augusto mi posso più fidare.

I can't even trust Augusto anymore.

Caption 2, La Ladra - Ep. 2 - Viva le spose - Part 9

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See how easily it slips into conversation. It’s certainly quicker than saying neanche.

E lo sai che manco a farlo apposta, proprio qui vicino, c'è un negozio, aperto da poco, che vende mozzarella di bufala.

And you know, not even to do it on purpose [by sheer coincidence], right near here, there's a shop, recently opened, that sells buffalo mozzarella.

Captions 46-47, Anna e Marika - La mozzarella di bufala - La produzione e i tagli - Part 1

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Have fun with manco. It’s a word you’ll likely hear more than say, since neanche andnemmeno are more straightforward. Like mica, it’s a strong word, and is used emphatically. When someone uses manco, they mean it. Just imagine someone’s eyebrows going up and their eyes opening wide, as they say, manco morto! as if to say, “you gotta be kidding me!” 

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*See the Accademia della Crusca, a centuries-old linguistic institution in Italy, now also an online service for questions about the Italian language (articles are in Italian).